With how loud and curious Chiba always was, she was practically dying to know what was going on. Why was Londo, the student who always kept to himself, who barely spoke a word to anyone, suddenly talking to the transfer student? Chiba's mind ran wild. Was this a declaration? Was Londo about to challenge someone to a duel right there on the flying bus? Or maybe, just maybe, he was about to confess his love!

But of course, Chiba would never get her answer, because as soon as Londo sat down beside Safa, he cast a silence spell, blocking out the prying ears and eyes of everyone else on the bus.

"You realize you're causing a lot of attention talking to me like this, right?" Raze asked, trying to keep his voice low. "You don't think this conversation could have waited?"

Londo shot him a dry look. "You're lecturing me about grabbing attention?" he replied. "You're the one who went around spreading those rumors everywhere. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you while it was still fresh in my mind, before we got to the guild."

He paused for a second, eyes flicking to the others on the bus, including a couple of the ranked students, and his lips curled in faint disgust. The others, already used to Londo's attitude, exchanged glances, clearly wondering what had prompted him to act out of character now.

"I overheard your conversation earlier," Londo continued, lowering his voice even further. "And I looked into things. The gifts that were received, including the one you were eyeing… it was all given by this new guild."

"For years, the academy has always used the same guild," he went on, "but this time, they chose to change things up, mostly because of donations."

There was nothing unusual about that, at least not on the surface. Academies often formed strong relationships with certain guilds. It was a classic move: guilds got an inside track on recruiting talented students, sometimes even pushing their own agenda or selling themselves as the perfect destination for gifted mages. So, nothing felt out of the ordinary yet. Even the gifting of magical items was standard. But, considering what Raze and Londo already knew, this raised several red flags in their minds.

"I did some digging, as much as I could," Londo said, his tone cautious. "And the guild we're about to visit… they have a strong connection with the Cerebus Guild."

The name made Raze sit up a little straighter. The Cerebus Guild was legendary, known as enforcers for an authority even higher than the police force. In a way, they were almost like a private guild at the beck and call of the Grand Magus, used whenever a show of true power or authority was needed. The guild was led by Gizin, the Grand Magus himself, one of the wealthiest people in the world thanks to the pharmaceuticals he sold to mages everywhere.

"When you say 'links,' what do you mean?" Raze asked carefully. "That could mean anything, close, or barely connected at all."

Londo nodded. "The guild has been given several tasks by the Cerebus Guild. It's on their official list of allied-for-hire guilds. And when I looked deeper, I found out that the Magister actually warned us about guilds like these."

He glanced around, making sure no one was listening. "The Cerebus Guild doesn't recruit from academies or the general public. They only pull new members from their network of allied guilds. Every member has come up through these other guilds."

It was a system built to maintain prestige. No one could just walk in and join the Cerebus Guild, only those who proved themselves elsewhere even got the chance. For a lot of people, joining one of those allied guilds became their main goal.

Especially since the Cerebus Guild was under the direct control of Gizin, one of the Grand Magus.

Harvey looked into the Cerebus Guild…that makes sense, Raze thought to himself. He told me they were interfering with his investigation. They were also the ones who told him to dig up whatever he could about the Dark Magus. Maybe they're trying to find out if I'm the real thing or not. Guess it pays to be cautious…

"I wanted to tell you everything, just in case," Londo finished, his voice earnest. "We're heading into unknown territory here. I doubt they'd do anything to students from an academy, but there must be a reason they gifted the Cursed Item, and why they wanted the academy to visit them in the first place."

With his message delivered and his warning clear, Londo stood up and headed back to his seat. No sooner had he left than Chiba came storming over, practically launching herself out of her seat.

"What did Londo say to you? Did he confess his feelings?" she blurted out, her eyes wide with anticipation.

Raze glanced down at Chiba's hands, gripping the handle of his seat, her fingers were so close, it was almost uncomfortable.

"Chiba," Yolden called from the row behind, noticing her intrusion. "Give him some personal space. And do you really think they'd use a silence spell if they wanted everyone to know what they were saying?"

"Yeah, but he can give us some small details, right?" Chiba persisted, flashing Raze a hopeful smile.

Just as Raze was about to reply, the teacher at the front of the bus suddenly stood up.

"Everyone, back to your seats, we're about to land!" Panla shouted, her voice cutting through the chatter.

Immediately, Chiba scrambled back to her own seat, and the rest of the students followed suit. The bus glided through the sky, dipping lower, and outside the windows, a massive castle loomed in the distance, set in the middle of a sprawling open field.

From their vantage point, the students could see mages practicing spells on the castle grounds. All of them wore similar robes, a deep crimson, with a hint of gold shimmer. It was the unmistakable mark of the guild they were about to visit: a medium-sized guild known as the Underfang.

Unlike the Cerebus Guild, the Underfang weren't enforcers or above government jurisdiction. But they did take on special assignments and often ventured into other dimensions as part of their work.

I wonder… Raze thought to himself as the bus descended. Are these one of those guilds that go into a dimension after the dungeon boss is cleared? If so, maybe I can finally get some information about why Alterian and the Grand Magus were searching these places to begin with. And what their real goal is with this academy…

*****

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